Follow Us

9 Reasons You Absolutely Must Visit The Malta Book Festival

The festival, which runs from the 9th till the 13th November, is basically a bookophile's paradise. Any self-respecting literature lover will be there, camping out from the night before!

But if you find yourself too busy to read, or not a fan of the whole 'doing the work movies can do for me' thing, don't worry... we're certain there's still something for you:

1. It's the perfect place to meet your favourite local authors and poets

You'll also have a chance to learn about new publications and get your hands on some signed copies! And if you don't know any good Maltese authors... well then, you have a lot to learn!

2. You'll also get to meet huge foreign authors

Basma Abdel Aziz, the Egyptian writer of The Queue, Patrick McGuinness, an author and poet, and Alek Popov, the Bulgarian writer of Mission:London all have Q&A events at the festival.

3. You won't even have to walk that far!

A shuttle service will be available during the weekend. It will pick you up from the Independence Monument each hour on the hour and deliver you to Valletta!

Great! Even more time to read.

4. Kids will be entertained

There are loads of activities planned for them. From reading aloud activities to games with rhymes - there's a whole day of fun waiting to be had. Plus, they may get a chance to meet some of their favourite writers!

5. Adults will be too!

There will be a total of four conferences offered throughout the festival. The themes they'll focus on will be political, social, historical and educational.

6. Everyone is catered for

Foreign language readers will be happy to know there will also be Italian, Spanish and French literature all represented at the festival!

7. Book-binding is a thing you can watch happen live

And you know it's gonna be one of those extremely satisfying 'How it's made' moments.

8. You can meet the future publishers of your novel

Major local publishers, bookshops, educational entities, foreign embassies and NGOs will all be present throughout the festival ready for a nice chat about books - your books, their books, everyone's books.

9. Poetry lovers get their own special date

Friday evening is just for you;

Guys and girls

who love poems

And short, well versed lines.

Bonus: There is no other event like it - so you don't want to miss it!

Nothing else in Malta comes close to bringing together writers, publishers, bookshops and readers in such a grand celebration of the culture of reading.